Honda: Intermittent brake failure, honda service center, brake master cylinder
Question-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
2002 Honda Civic EX
My daughter experienced in four separate incidents that the brake pedal could not be pressed down and the engine reved like gone into neutral when she tried to stop at city driving speed on the flat road in good weather condition. She had to pull the hand brake to stop the car. After that the brake behaved normal. Honda service center looked into the problem three times, and claimed they could not find the problem with the brake system, which I do not expect them to with just an hour or two of inspection and test.
Please let me know the probable cause of this type of brake failure, before a fatal accident happens.
Thanks in advance.
Answer -
Mr.Cheung,I respectfully decline to even speculate on what the problem with your daughters car may be.If it were my daughter I would swap cars with her for about a week or so to experience the problem for myself and possibly shed a little more light on the problem and maybe have a little more info to give your dealer.Honda does not have any documented referance to this problem and I have not heard of this problem either. Ray
Mr. Hall,
Thank you for your prompt reply. I understand most of the brake faiure is no brake even the brake pedal is floored. That is easier to diagnose. This case, that the pedal can go down, is just the opposite. What could cause the pedal to stop going down? There must be something that causes the brake master cylinder from functioning. May I speculate the area could be the brake master cylinder, the ABS module, or the vehicle CPU?
David.
Answer Ok David,Im glad you got back to me so soon.I was thinking about your problem at work today and an old recall bulletin for the 96' civic came to mind,it describes your daughters problem exactly(I was pretty tired last night when I answered your question)The recall involved the brake booster vacuum hose and more specifically the one-way check valve inside it,I cleaned out a couple dozen of them at least back then.Honda claimed that the dessicant powder used during(or after)manufacturing of the part was causing the check valve inside the hose to intermittently stick resulting in lack of power assist to the brakes(hard pedal).Due to the seriousness of this problem(and if you were at my dealership)I would strongly advise you have that hose replaced. Ray
